1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a vehicle body mounting structure for a cooler such as an oil cooler which is used together with a cooling fan.
2. Description of Background Art
FIG. 7 shows a conventional vehicle body mounting structure for a cooler and a cooling fan. A cooler 100 has mounting portions 101 on the left and right of an upper portion thereof, and lower ends of suspending brackets 102 are attached to the mounting portions 101 by means of bolts 103 with mounting rubber members 104 of the bush type interposed therebetween while upper ends of the suspending brackets 102 are attached to stays 107 provided on a vehicle body frame 106 with bolts 105. A cooling fan 110 for forced cooling is disposed rearwardly in the proximity of the cooler 100 and is accommodated in a cylindrical shroud 111. Suspending brackets 114 are each attached at one end thereof by means of bolts 113 to a boss 112 provided on the shroud 111. The suspending brackets 114 are attached at the other ends thereof to stays 115 provided separately from the stays 107 on the vehicle body frame 106 by means of bolts 116. Further, it is known to mount a cooling fan directly on the rear face of a radiator by use of rubber mounts for the cooling fan (for example, Japanese Utility Model Laid-open No. Sho 54-56820) Also it is known to mount a frame, in which a radiator and so forth are accommodated, on the vehicle body side (refer to, for example, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. Sho 62-35675 and Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Hei 10-1884)
By the way, in the case of the structure shown in FIG. 7, since the cooler 100 and the cooling fan 110 must be mounted separately from each other on the vehicle body frame 106, the suspending brackets 102 and 114 and the stays 107 and 115 must be provided separately from each other, and the number of parts and the number of mounting steps increase. In addition, time is required for separately, fixedly mounting the mount rubber members.
Meanwhile, if a type of cooling fan is provided that is mounted directly on a radiator as in Japanese Utility Model Laid-open No. Sho 54-56820 and Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Hei 10-18843, then the necessity to mount the cooling fan by itself on the vehicle body side is eliminated. However, in principle, the upward and downward dimension of a radiator is greater than the diameter of a cooling fan and a special frame structure section for mounting a cooling fan is required, and it is difficult to mount a cooling fan directly on a cooler of a small size such as an oil cooler. Further, similar problems to those described above apply also to the rubber mounting structure.
It is an object of the invention of the present application to make it possible to integrate a cooling fan with a cooler without directly attaching them to each other and to facilitate mounting onto a vehicle body and facilitate rubber mounting.
In order to solve the above-identified problems, according to a first aspect of the present invention relating to a cooling system for a vehicle, a cooling system for a vehicle which includes a cooler and a cooling fan disposed rearwardly in the proximity of the cooler and wherein the cooler and the cooling fan are supported on a vehicle body is characterized in that the cooler and the cooling fan are accommodated in a unitary case to form the cooler and the cooling fan into a unit.
A second aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, in the first aspect of the present invention, the case is divided forwardly and rearwardly into a front half portion side in which the cooler is accommodated and a rear half portion side in which the cooling fan is accommodated, and the front half portion side and the rear half portion side are put together from forwardly and backwardly and connected to and integrated with each other.
A third aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, in the second aspect of the present invention, a vehicle body mounting portion is formed integrally on either one of the front half portion side and the rear half portion side of the case.
A fourth aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, in the first aspect of the present invention, when the cooler is accommodated into the case, a resilient member is interposed in a non-coupling state between the cooler and an inner face of the case.
A fifth aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, in the first aspect of the present invention, the cooler is an oil cooler.
According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the cooler and the cooling fan are accommodated in the same case to form the cooler and the cooling fan into a unit, the cooler and the cooling fan can be handled as a single apparatus and the cooler and the cooling fan need not be mounted separately from each other on the vehicle body, the number of parts and the number of mounting man-hours can be reduced. Further, irrespective of whether the cooler is large or small, the cooling fan can be integrated with the cooler.
According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the case is divided forwardly and rearwardly into the front half portion side and the rear half portion side, if the cooler is accommodated into the front half portion side and the cooling fan is accommodated into the rear half portion side and thereafter the front half portion side and the rear half portion side are put together from forwardly and backwardly and coupled to each other by means of fastening screws or the like, then they can be formed into a unit simply.
According to the third aspect of the present invention, only if a vehicle body mounting portion is provided on either one of the front half portion side and the rear half portion side, mounting onto the vehicle body is allowed, and the number of mounting portions and the number of mounting man-hours can be reduced.
According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, since the structure wherein the cooler is accommodated and held in the case is adopted, only it is required to interpose a mount rubber member merely in a non-coupling state between the cooler and the case. Consequently, the necessity to use a rubber mounting structure formed as a bushing as in the prior art is eliminated, and the vibration-preventing structure is simplified and the number of parts and the number of mounting man-hours can be reduced.
According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, since the cooler is an oil cooler, in spite of the structure which does not have a frame on which a cooling fan can be mounted, the oil cooler and the cooling fan can be formed as a unitary member.
Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.